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Irresistible Grace, Effectual Calling - Scripture List

Simon Wartanian | 10,943 views | 2,545 words | 0:13:07 hours | 23 March 2014 22:21

... the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Col 2:13-15 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

2Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new Creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Titus 3:4-7 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Jas 1:18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

1Pet 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1Jn 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

The work of God the Holy Spirit

Rom 8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Eph 1:13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Eph 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

1Cor 2:9-12 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

1Cor 3:16 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

1Cor 6:9-11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

1Cor 12:3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

...

1 Timothy 4:10, 'Savior of all men'

Simon Wartanian | 19,547 views | 2,689 words | 0:14:15 hours | 09 April 2014 12:57

Calvinism Limited Atonement Election Sovereignty ESV Study Bible ESV MacArthur Study Bible HCSB Study Bible Bob Utley Matthew Henry

...f our brothers want to get the idea that God really wants to save everyone, but they don’t freely choose Him, they just won’t come to Him, although He has given them grace. But that is not the idea here. As I have argued above the word soter can be used in the sense of a preserver or deliverer. And it is best to understand the phrase “Savior of all people” to refer to the idea that God is the one who gives food to the wicked and the just, He is the one who gives us our jobs, our promotions, He is the one who brings us up and throws us down, he cares for the wicked and just, His mercy is over all His Creation (Mt 5:45; Phil 4:19; 1Sm 2:6-8, Ps 145:9, etc…).

The last phrase is very interesting, “especially of those who believe”. The Greek word for especially in the Greek is the word malista (μάλιστα, G3122) which means “especially, chiefly, most of all, above all.[8]” Well, if our non-Calvinist brothers and sisters want to assert that God tries to save everyone or wants to save everyone in what way is He especially saving those who believe then? It seems very clear to me, that in the first part of verse 10 “Savior of all people” means that He preserves and cares for the wicked as well as the redeemed, and that is made clear by the last part of verse 10 by saying that He’s the Savior “especially of those who believe”. He not only cares for His elect as well as the reprobate, but He saves His elect in a special manner too. He saves them freely from His righteous wrath which justly falls on the wicked. The same wicked people who enjoyed God’s perseverance and mercy in their earthly life.

I think I’ve said enough. The commentaries below will say things in a better way than I could. Take a look.

Commentaries

Bob Utley in You Can Understand the Bible said:[1]

"who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers" The title "savior" is used quite often in the Pastoral Letters (cf. 1 Tim. 1:1; 2:3; 2 Tim. 1:10; Titus 1:3-4; 2:10-13; 3:4,6). In earlier chapters of 1 Timothy it is used of God as the Redeemer, potentially, of all mankind (cf. 1 Tim. 2:4,6; Luke 2:11; John 1:29; 4:42; Rom. 5:18-19; 2 Pet. 3:9). See full note at 2 Tim. 1:10. Possibly because of the little phrase "especially of believers" (where one would theologically expect "only") it may be used in its OT sense of Elohim, who is "protector" or "provider" of all life on earth (cf. Matt. 5:45; Acts 17:28).

A short comment is made by RC Sproul in the ESV Reformation Bible:[2]

4:10 Savior of all people. The general call to repentance and salvation is extended to all people (Matt. 11:28). See “Definite Redemption” at John 10:15.

especially of those who believe. Salvation is God’s gift, in particular to those who trust in His provision in Christ (Matt. 22:14; Rom. 8:30).

The ESV Study Bible explains:[3]

1 Tim. 4:10 to this end. The goal of Paul’s labors is that people attain “godliness&rdqu...

A Review of RC Sproul's Willing to Believe & Thoughts on Free Will

Simon Wartanian | 8,379 views | 3,709 words | 0:19:03 hours | 22 February 2015 00:23

RC Sproul Willing To Believe The Controversy Over Free Will Free Will Predestination Election Sovereignty Compatibilism Calvinism Arminianism Pelagianism Semi-Pelagianism Augustine Martin Luther John Calvin Jonathan Edwards Book Review

... inclination; or the want of sufficient motives in view, to induce and excite the act of the Will, or the strength of apparent motives to the contrary.” This is not like telling someone to fly who obviously does not the ability to fly or commanding someone to walk when he is strapped to a chair. It’s more like telling someone who hates you to do you a favor. He doesn’t lack any natural ability to love, he lacks motives to love you and do you a favor.

Conclusion

We indeed are free to do anything that we please. The problem alone is with what we please, but thanks be to God who through Jesus Christ has given us a new heart and a new nature. We are a new Creation, being made into the likeness of His beloved Son. We are no longer slaves to sin, although we still struggle and are in war with sin, just like Paul was in Romans 7. The difference alone for those who are in Adam and those in Christ is that the one in Adam only wills the sin, the one in Christ is enabled by the Holy Spirit to do that which is pleasing in God’s sight. “Oh that day when freed from sinning, I shall see Thy lovely face.” True freedom does not consist in doing the good and the evil, but by doing that which God commands – the good. It’s only in the eternal state when we will be freed from any sinful inclination. We shall truly become free from sin, by our inability to do evil.

All glory to the Triune Sovereign, who has granted us to be His children because of His unconditional love which He has poured out in us. Soli Deo Gloria.

Footnotes

^ Vrije Wil En Genade Gevangenschap: En Bevrijding Van De Wil – http://www.bol.com/nl/p/vrije-wil-en-genade/1001004006153346/
^ The whole series can be found at Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZCQXOiAAhJw4AgQG_e_rGdNTByZHjRw7

...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 12: Of Adoption - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 10,739 views | 2,439 words | 0:12:42 hours | 04 March 2015 21:56

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve Adoption Children Of God

...race—something that we don’t deserve.

In and for Christ

The privilege of adoption is found only in the beloved Son of the Father–in the Lord Jesus Christ. We should not look anywhere else, but only in Christ through Whom adoption into God’s family is possible. Yes, there is indeed a sense in which all are children of God in that He has created them, but the Bible never focuses on that (Acts 17:26-27). The New Testament, again and again, speaks about our adoption into God’s family-centered in Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul says in Galatians 3:26 that it is in Christ that we are children of God. It is not that we simply are His Creation, but we are children and we are adopted into God’s family in Christ and through faith. Thus, the faithless are not admitted into God’s family. This privilege is only in Christ and through faith. This is a blessed privilege in virtue of the Covenant of Grace and not the Covenant of Works in Adam for all men.

We are made children by regeneration. We are spiritually born of God and thus in this way and through Christ, we are rightly children of God. We are adopted and received as children through faith and regeneration (John 1:12-13). It was God’s purpose even before the foundation of the world that we would be welcomed into His family through Christ (Eph. 1:5). God predestined us for the grace and privilege of adoption. God elected us so that we would be His children for the glory of His holy Name and the praise of His grace. It was God’s purpose that we would be redeemed and cleansed from sin so that we would be adopted into His fold through Christ (Gal. 4:4-5). Through Christ we are made heirs of God’s promises, we are made true children of Abraham through faith and thus the Abrahamic promises have their fulfillment in the Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ (Gal. 3:29; 2 Cor. 1:20). As Christ is the rightful heir of everything (Heb. 1:2), so we who are in the Son are heirs to what the Lord Jesus is an heir. We are co-heirs with the Lord (Rom. 8:17). In and through Christ we are made the true Israel of God (Gal. 6:16). The Lord says that He is the True Vine (John 15:1-2), which was a clear picture of Israel (e.g. Hos 10:1) and that we are in Him. If Jesus is the true Israel and we are in Him, then we are the Israel of God, Jewish and Gentile believers in the Messiah, not unbelieving ethnic Jews.

The Liberties and Privileges

With our adoption into God’s family, we by amazing grace receive abundant privileges and graces, which we could have never deserved.

His name

We have God’s name upon us. The book of Revelation describes the believers as having the Father’s name upon their foreheads in contrast to those who have the mark of the Beast on their forehead (Rev. 3:12; 14:1; 22:4). To have His name upon us means that we belong to Him. We are His possessions. We are His children. He lays His claim especially upon us. We are welcomed into His family and the Lord Jesus, our precious and loving Savior, becomes our elder brother (cf. Rom. 8:29). In fact, the Father has predestined us to be like His beloved Son (Rom. 8:29). It is the Father’s desire that the Lord Jesus be an elder brother among many more who are conformed into His character and image. We will be spotless and pure just like our Elder Brother.

Our being adopted as children of God is a great demonstration of God’s love for us (1 John 3:1). That we should be loved and cared for by Him is a great privilege and a marvelous gr...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 14: Of Saving Faith - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 20,259 views | 21,954 words | 1:58:30 hours | 05 March 2015 18:34

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen Saving Faith True Faith Temporal Faith Historical Faith Nature Of Faith Ground Of Faith Elements Of Faith Blessings Of Faith Gift Of Faith Pisteuo Pistis Greek Word Study Expressions For Faith

...ct are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls—it is the sole instrument of justification (chapter 11:2). Furthermore, this grace of faith...is the work of the Spirit of Christ (John 6:63; Ezek. 36:25-27). Faith is our response to the call of God, but it does not originate with us. It is granted to us by God and it is worked in us by the Holy Spirit through regeneration and the Creation of the new man in Christ. It is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word (2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:23), i.e., by the preaching of the gospel coupled with the work of the Spirit of Christ. This faith is further strengthened by the means of grace. These are the gospel ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. But also prayer, Bible reading and study, the communion of the saints and other things prescribed and commended in the Word of truth. By these means, faith is not created, but it is increased and strengthened.

Greek Words

We will start our study of faith by first noting which words are used in the New Testament especially to denote faith and belief. The word faith or belief in our daily lives may be used in a lot of senses. We may say that we believe that someone is speaking the truth and mean that we have confidence. We may say, “I believe that I’ve read that book” when we actually mean that we “think we read that book.” We use it when we have confidence or trust in something without evidence. In secular eyes, faith is always connected with believing something without or contrary to evidence. But is this the nature of biblical faith? Before we answer that, we must take a survey of the Greek words and expressions used to denote faith, particularly in the New Testament.

Pistis

The primary word in the New Testament for faith is the Greek noun πίστις (pistis, G4102). According to Joseph Henry Thayer, pistis primarily means the “conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it”^[3]. According to my Bible software (TheWord), it is used 227x in the NA28. William D. Mounce says that 'pistis means “belief, trust, confidence,” though it can also mean “faithfulness.”’^[4] If we may at the outset observe, the basic meaning of the word has to do with conviction, trust, reliance, and confidence. It has nothing to do with “faith without evidence.” Louis Berkhof observes:

In classical Greek. The word pistis has two meanings in classical Greek. It denotes: (a) a conviction based on confidence in a person and in his testimony, which as such is distinguished from knowledge resting on personal investigation; and (b) the confidence itself on which such a conviction rests. This is more than a mere intellectual conviction that a person is reliable; it presupposes a personal relation to the object of confidence, a going out of one’s self, to rest in another. The Greeks did not ordinarily use the word in this sense, to express their relation to the gods, since they regarded these as hostile to men, and therefore as objects of fear rather than of trust.^[5]

Now let us observe the different uses of the noun pistis in the New Testament. First of all, there are a few instances in which it is used in a passive sense of faithfulness. This is the case in Romans 3:3 when Paul says, “Does [the Jews’] faithlessness [ἀπιστία, apistia] nullify the faithfulness [πίστιν, pistin] of ...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 27: Of the Communion of Saints

Simon Wartanian | 11,312 views | 4,813 words | 0:25:13 hours | 06 March 2015 23:08

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 27 Of The Communion Of Saints Fellowship Christian Love Union With Christ

... currently lives His resurrection life (Rom. 6:2-11).

Our Lives

The elect were not only united with Christ in His life, death, and resurrection in the past, but they are also, in the present, intimately united with Him through faith. The Scriptures teach that our regeneration and new life is the result of our union with Christ. Paul writes that “even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:5). A few verses later he also says that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph. 2:10). In 2 Corinthians 5:17, the apostle says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new Creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” This great blessing of new life is a result of union with Christ.

Our justification by faith has its source in our union with Christ. Paul says that our justification was in Him (Rom. 3:24; Gal. 2:16-17) and that our righteousness is likewise because we are united with Him (1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:8-9). Not only justification, but sanctification is likewise a blessing from union with Christ. The apostle Paul writes that “because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). Because we are in Him, we have sanctification which comes from Him. Sanctification is the new life given to us in Jesus Christ. Thus the apostle Paul tells us that “our “walk[ing] in newness of life” is because of our union with Christ in His death and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-5). He also says:

Rom. 6:6-11 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

We see here that Paul says the reason for our union with Christ in His death was so that we would die to sin and sin might lose its power over us. Since we have died with Christ, we will also now live with Him. Christ lives His resurrection life in His people through the Spirit Whom He poured on us. Just as the Lord Christ died and was raised to life, so likewise we should die to sin and live to God in Christ. Our Christian life is to be lived in, with, and because of Christ. To die to sin is an essential part of Christian sanctification, therefore we see that even our sanctification is because of our union with Christ. In Christ, we have everything we need for the Christian life. We are even living with Him (Rom. 6:8, 11). Dr. Wayne Grudem writes:

John writes, “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (1 John 5:11), and Paul speaks of “the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 1:1). We read that “in Christ” are “faith and love” (1 Tim. 1:14; 2 Tim. 1:13), “grace” (2 Tim. 2:1), “salvation” (2 Tim. 2:10), “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3) and God’s “riches in glory” (Phil. 4:19). Paul says that it is because of God’s work that Christians are “in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30), and that “God . ...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 32: Of the Last Judgment - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 15,787 views | 16,377 words | 1:25:50 hours | 06 March 2015 23:30

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 32 Last Judgment Eternal Hell Eternal Suffering Lake Of Fire

...s justice and is His wrath, as He has desired in Romans 9:21-24. God wants to show both His fierce anger and His mind-blowing grace. His fierce anger is displayed against those who did not obey the gospel of our Lord, nor sought the face of God for their sins. On the other hand, there is another group, the elect, chosen from before the foundation of the earth, who likewise, on their own, deserve to be under His fierce wrath, but are not. The elect are delivered from the wrath of God by the blood of the Lamb (Rom. 5:9), and they receive mercy and grace, something which God is never ever obligated to give. The reason for God giving these people grace and for having chosen them before the Creation of the world is “to the praise of his glorious grace” (Eph. 1:6). The one group, the reprobate, receive justice; while the other group, the elect, receive mercy. R. C. Sproul explains the two categories of justice and non-justice with the following diagram:

There is strict justice that demands the punishment of sin and there is non-justice. Non-justice includes injustice and grace. Injustice is clearly wrong and God is not unjust, and therefore, He is not glorified by being unjust. But He is glorified and praised for being just (see above The Praises Of Heaven), and likewise merciful (e.g., Ps. 28:6; 116:1-2). His glory in non-justice is not by injustice, but by mercy and grace. Mercy and grace are a category outside of strict justice, but it is not injustice. We receive mercy and grace and are justified because of a Substitute who received strict justice on behalf of the elect. In this God is glorified both in His justice and in His grace. For He is shown to be severe against those who dishonor Him, giving His enemies what they deserve; and on the other hand showing amazing grace and condescending to redeem, and thereby glorifying His mercy and grace (Rom. 11:22). God has desired to show all the range of His attributes, from His justice and wrath to His grace, mercy, and love, all of which are holy, holy, holy.

§3 Certainly Persuaded That There Shall Be A Day Of Judgment

As Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there shall be a day of judgment, both to deter all men from sin, 1 and for the greater consolation of the godly in their adversity, 2 so will he have the day unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal security, and be always watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will come, 3 and may ever be prepared to say, Come Lord Jesus; come quickly. 4 Amen.
1. 2 Cor. 5:10-11
2. 2 Thess. 1:5-7
3. Mark 13:35-37; Luke 12:35-40
4. Rev. 22:20

The thought of a day of judgment should deter all men from sin (2 Cor. 5:10-11) as there will come the time when they will have to give an account for each and every sinful action and thought (e.g., Matt. 12:36). Therefore, it is proper to fear and keep the day of judgment in mind. Christians should not fear the day of judgment (1 John 4:17). But it is also a source of great consolation for the godly in their adversity (2 Thess. 1:5-7) as we know that we will be vindicated and our enemies punished for what they have done to us. It is with this thought in mind that we accept suffering at the hands of the wicked and do not resist evil with evil, but with good (Rom. 12:17-21). It has pleased the Lord, to shake off all carnal security and to cause us to be always watchful (Mark 13:35-37) to make the day unknown to men (Matt. 24:36). He has not revealed it to us so th...

Review of Dean Davis' The High King of Heaven on Amillennialism

Simon Wartanian | 12,972 views | 8,095 words | 0:42:03 hours | 13 April 2015 23:31

Review Book Review Dean Davis The High King Of Heaven Amillennialism Eschatology Reformed Eschatology

...ul style="list-style-type:circle;"

This is the one and final general resurrection of all men from Adam onward. Both just and unjust, righteous and wicked, elect and reprobate.

The Last Judgment

Here is the general judgment of all men and angels. Those who are in Christ will receive their reward and be welcomed into the Kingdom of their Father. Those of the wicked both men and angels will be thrown into the lake of fire and will receive proper retribution.

The Restoration of all Things or the Regeneration

This is the restoration, renewal, reCreation, transformation, glorification of the present cosmos into the New Heavens and the New Earth (Acts 3:21; Mt 19:28)

The Delivering Up of the Kingdom

This will be done after the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God will create the New Heavens and the New Earth and deliver them to His Father.

Of special importance was this for me, although it was established through the whole book that we should expect one resurrection, judgment and Parousia, but now Dean goes more deeply and deals with related texts and shows that they indeed support basic Amillennial eschatology.

The One Second Coming

There is one and only one glorious and visible coming of our blessed Lord Jesus.

There are three words used in the NT when speaking of the Second Coming that are describing different aspects of the Second Coming.

παρουσία (Parousia)^[5]

presence
the coming, arrival, advent
1. the future visible return from heaven of Jesus, to raise the dead, hold the last judgment, and set up formally and gloriously the kingdom of God

ἀποκάλυψις (Apokalupsis)^[6]

laying bear, making naked
a disclosure of truth, instruction
1. concerning things before unknown
2. used of events by which things or states or persons hitherto withdrawn from view are made visible to all
manifestation, appearance

ἐπιφάνεια (Epiphaneia)^[7]
1. an appearing, appearance

It is of importance to notice the way that the Bible many times speaks of THE coming of our Lord.

“The coming of the Son of Man” (Mt. 24:27, 37, 39)
“…establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” (1Thess 3:13)
“…we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord…” (1Thess 4:15)
“…may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1Thess 5:23)
“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him…” (2Thess 2:1)
“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord... for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” (Jas 5:7-8)
“… as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1Cor 1:7)
“… tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1Pet 1:7)
“… set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1Pet 1:13)
“…bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming (τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ).” (2Thess 2:8)
“to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1Tim 6:14)
“waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,” (Titus 2:13)

This, aside from the simple NT teaching of the singular coming of Christ points strongly to a...

Review of Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology

Simon Wartanian | 17,130 views | 1,938 words | 0:010:06 hours | 19 July 2015 19:18

Wayne Grudem Systematic Theology Book Review Calvinism Baptist Continuationist Premillennialism

...Chapter 16: God’s Providence. And man...I was in for something. It was excellent and it was fully biblical. I loved it.

He defines God’s Providence as follows:

God is continually involved with all created things in such a way that he (1) keeps them existing and maintaining the properties with which he created them; (2) cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do; and (3) directs them to fulfill his purposes.^[2]

God is absolutely sovereign over His Creation. Nothing can happen without His will. Moreover He has ordained whatsoever comes to pass.

Although God is absolutely sovereign, even over chance events (Prov 16:33), man is still held responsible (Isaiah 11, Gen 50:20; Acts 4:27-28).

This is above our understanding, but it is what the Scriptures teach and thus we are to obey it.

This is not fatalism, this is the carrying out of a divine plan of a God who is just, holy, wise and merciful.

We are not “robots,” as many non-Calvinists would accuse Calvinists of making man, we make responsible choices, but these choices are absolutely under the control of God.

See my commentary on chapter 3 (Of God’s Decree) and chapter 5 (Of Divine Providence) on the 1689.

The Person of Christ

The treatment of of the Person of Christ is excellent. His two-fold natures in one Person, His effective and definite atonement, resurrection and ascension. All these he handles in part 4 with great care and persuasive biblical argumentation.

Before reading his treatment on the Person of Christ, I thought that Christ now was only divine and not man. God graciously used Dr. Grudem to persuaded me otherwise.

In the incarnation the Word took on flesh (Jn 1:1, 14). He did not lay aside His divinity, but added humanity to His divine Person (Phil 2:5-11). He was resurrected with a human body and went into heaven with that glorified body, nothing actually convinces us that the Lord Jesus ceased to be human at the moment of His ascension. In fact the Bible tells us that it is the man Christ Jesus who is our Mediator:

1Tim 2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

The Application of Redemption

Part 5 is entitled The Doctrine of The Application of Redemption. Therein Dr. Grudem handles among other things:

Common Grace
Election and Reprobation
The Gospel Call and Effective Calling
Regeneration
Conversion (Faith and Repentance)
Justification (Right Legal Standing Before God)
Adoption (Membership in God’s Family)
Sanctification (Growth in Likeness to Christ)
Death and the Intermediate State
Glorification (Receiving a Resurrection Body)
Union with Christ

These chapters are excellent like the rest and if you didn’t know, Dr Wayne Grudem is a full-fetched Calvinist and in these chapters, what is called “Calvinism” is argued and shown to be the system of the Bible itself. He follows Romans 8:29-30 in laying out these doctrine sin this way:

Rom 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

The Doctrine of the Church

Part 6 of this treatment deals with Ecclesiology. I’ve learned a ton in this part, because it wa...

A Short Review of Beckwith's & Stott's This Is The Day

Simon Wartanian | 3,562 views | 614 words | 0:03:08 hours | 08 January 2017 23:25

Sunday The Lord's Day Christian Sabbath Fourth Commandment Church History Historical Theology Book Review Roger Beckwith Wilfrid Stott

...le="font-size:26px;">The Biblical Doctrine of the Christian Sunday in Its Jewish and Early Church Setting

by Roger T. Beckwith and Wilfrid Stott

A well researched book by two readable authors. Makes a convincing and honest case from both the Holy Scriptures as well as the first four centuries from Christian history.

The biblical case is short and to the point. I love the fact there is always reference back to what he has said or established on earlier pages. Roger Beckwith goes on to demonstrate that the Sabbath was a Creation ordinance and as such it is not connected with the Fall. Then he goes on to survey the passages speaking about the Sabbath. Very interesting was chapter 4 where he showed continuities between the Jewish Sabbath and the Lord's Day (the Christian Sabbath). He makes the case that the Lord's Day is the day of the Lord Christ, the day on which He rose and which we keep to celebrate His resurrection. The first part was very well written and argued, although I would have liked it to be longer and more extensive, but oh well!

The second part has 9 chapters devoted to a historical study about the Sabbath and the Lord's Day. It is very interesting to many how many early references there are to the Christian observance of the Lord's Day as the day of worship. The New Testament has a handful of passages speaking about the Lord's Day (first day of the week), but apparently, in the mind of the early Christians, these passages were a firm foundation to show them that Sunday was the day of worship, the kyriake hemera! Dr. Stott makes a good survey of various pre-400 AD writings in these chapters. There are things which the Fathers believed that I don't agree with, neither do Beckwith nor Stott. But they are honest to lay out their views honestly and clearly. For example, although the observance of the Lord's Day is directly connected to the Fourth Commandment in the mind of the Christian Sabbatarian, the early Fathers, according to Stott, do not make a direct connection with it. As Christian Sabbatarians we believe that the Sabbath was instituted in the Garden and given to Adam to keep, but the Fathers did not agree or say that Adam had to keep a Sabbath, but some of them connected it with the existence of sin (i.e. trouble, sin in our lives and the need for rest). Stott lays these views out honestly and makes some observations on them. It is still amazing to me how much Christians wrote and said about the Lord's Day, although there were but a handful of passages on it in the New Testament. It goes to show that what is insignificant in our modern eyes, was more than enough for the early church. It was enough that the Lord Christ rose on the Lord's Day, for the Lord's Day to be considered the day of rest and worship--a holy day.

His chapter on Eusebius of Caesarea (8) is very interesting. He tries to demonstrate that Eusebius tried to systematize and summarize the doctrines about the Lord's Day and the Sabbath which the Fathers taught. He was the systemizer of the Christian Sunday. He speaks of the Lord transferring the feast of the Sabbath to the first day and so on. Clearly connecting the Lord's Day with the Sabbath.

Overall, a very good and well argued book. I will certainly go back to it and check some stuff again!

Seeing that this book was published in 1978 it w

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